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  • From: Becky Bollinger <beckyalis AT gmail.com>
  • To: Elisabeth Curtis <granda.curtis AT gmail.com>
  • Cc: Jane Dunlap <janedunlap AT bellsouth.net>, ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [ocba] citation CH bees as livestock
  • Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 10:29:47 -0400

I was interviewed for the /Carrboro Free Press/ last week, they are doing a bee theme. She inquired about the legality of whether or not it was ok to keep bees in the Carrboro and Chapel Hill town limits. The Carrboro police told me they found nothing in their ordinances that said you couldn't and based on the responses I got on here it seems ok to keep them in Chapel Hill. One member said that she called the Chapel Hill police and they told her it was fine as long as the neighbors did not complain. To be safe I sent the reporter the links to the Chapel Hill & Carrboro town ordinances so she could look them over herself.
Thanks for all the input,
Becky



Elisabeth Curtis wrote:
Having just been involved in a public hearing involving chickens in Carrboro, I am pretty certain that Carrboro's ordinances are different from Chapel Hill's and that at least with regard to chickens, both Chapel Hill and Durham wants to change theirs to be more like Carrboro's more lenient ordinances. That said, I must admit I have not searched the appropriate ordinances. Do we know what prompted the inquiry? -Elisabeth

On Tue, May 20, 2008 at 8:25 AM, Jane Dunlap <janedunlap AT bellsouth.net <mailto:janedunlap AT bellsouth.net>> wrote:

Lanette -- Here's the citation -- Jane

Everyone knows there is always some below the radar activity. I
know a man
who kept a pet rooster for a year or so who roamed a fairly densely
populated older neighborhood and was welcomed by most of the
neighbors. If
the neighbors don't mind and the hive isn't in a place easily
investigated
by curious children or pets ...

Glad I live in the country :-)

http://www.townofchapelhill.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=519

Appendix A, Definitiions

Agriculture, livestock: The use of land for the keeping, grazing,
feeding,
or breeding of
livestock, including cattle, hogs, sheep, goats, and poultry, and also
animal specialties such as
horses, breeding of livestock, including cattle, hogs, sheep,
goats, and
poultry, and also animal
specialties such as horses, rabbits, bees, and fish and
fur-bearing animals
in captivity.


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Subject: ocba Digest, Vol 38, Issue 14


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Today's Topics:

1. Re: bees in CH/CBO city limits (Lanette Fee)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 00:10:45 -0400
From: "Lanette Fee" <fee AT sprintmail.com <mailto:fee AT sprintmail.com>>
Subject: Re: [ocba] bees in CH/CBO city limits
To: <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org <mailto:ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>>
Message-ID: <7194AC4D58F1432FB7B1526872F3AFBB@TheFeesPC>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
reply-type=original

Dear All,
I have read the part Jane referenced, but I disagree with this
interpretation of the ordinances. There are other sections that
deal more
specifically with animals, large and small, pet and livestock. See...

http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?sid=33&pid=19952
<http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?sid=33&pid=19952>

Bees are not designated as livestock in the codes I found. If
we look
at chapter 4 (Animals and Animal Control) in the link above, there
is a
discussion of horses, cows, goats, swine, and sheep which
indicates that you
are required to have more than 4 acres to have one of these and
there is no
reference to specific land use areas designated for this.
Chickens are
definitely livestock and you are allowed to house up to 20
chickens within
the city limits under certain conditions (i.e., cleanliness,
noncommercial
use only, noise level not a nuisance to neighbors, can't run at
large within
the town limits). Rabbits are discussed - you can't sell them
less than 60
days of age and you can't dye them (or baby chicks) for sale.
(Who on Earth
would want to dye them? The things some people will do!)
There is no mention of bees at all. But, there is discussion
of many
other livestock.
I did a search in the link in Jane's message and could not find
specific
mention of bees or bees being classified as livestock. Jane,
could you
point me to the right section, please? I must have been delinquent in
finding it. All I found was a table that had Agriculture:
Livestock v.
Non-Livestock where I found the districts you mention, but nothing
other
than that.
How many hives constitues someone conducting "Agriculture? " My
interpretation of this would be that the zoning maps indicate
residential v.
business use and I agree that beekeeping as a business is
agriculture.
And, I also agree that a couple of hundred hives downtown might
not be such
a good idea. But I think that a few hives would fall under the
animal and
animal control ordinances rather than the business v. residential
ordinances. The chickens are a good example where a few for
noncommercial
purposes are allowed.
What do you think?
Lanette Fee

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jane Dunlap" <janedunlap AT bellsouth.net
<mailto:janedunlap AT bellsouth.net>>
To: <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org <mailto:ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>>
Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2008 8:59 AM
Subject: Re: [ocba] bees in CH/CBO city limits


> The ordinances for both towns are a bit dense, but Chapel Hill
classifies
> bees as 'livestock,' which can only be kept in a few low-density
zoning
> districts: R-LD5, RT, MH. Carrboro doesn't specifically mention
bees that
> I
> could find, but goes on about how non-pets must be kept on the
owner's
> property and x distance from property lines. So it seems that
neither town
> is bee-friendly. Probably best to check with someone at Town
Hall before
> installing a hive.
>
> You can't keep elephants in Carrboro, either.
>
> -- Jane
>
>
> See CH land use matrix here:
>
> http://www.townofchapelhill.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=521
>
> and a zoning map here:
>
> http://www.townofchapelhill.org/DocumentView.asp?DID=1669
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ocba-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
<mailto:ocba-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> [mailto:ocba-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
<mailto:ocba-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org>]On Behalf Of
> ocba-request AT lists.ibiblio.org
<mailto:ocba-request AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 1:21 PM
> To: ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org <mailto:ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: ocba Digest, Vol 38, Issue 12
>
>
> Send ocba mailing list submissions to
> ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org <mailto:ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>
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> or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Bees in a tree (David Langham)
> 2. Re: QUESTION (Randall Austin)
>
>
>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 16:49:02 -0400
> From: David Langham <david_langham AT hotmail.com
<mailto:david_langham AT hotmail.com>>
> Subject: [ocba] Bees in a tree
> To: ocba listserv <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
<mailto:ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>>
> Message-ID: <BLU105-W36347F7284ADBF9AC8A58F8EC80 AT phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252"
>
>
> All,
> Michael Pettiford has bees in a hole in a tree. The hole is
ground level
> and might be easily accessible via bee-vac. His number is 923-3577.
> Happy Beekeeping!
> David
> _________________________________________________________________
> Give to a good cause with every e-mail. Join the i?m Initiative from
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> ------------------------------
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> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 17:17:52 -0400
> From: Randall Austin <ra41717 AT gmail.com <mailto:ra41717 AT gmail.com>>
> Subject: Re: [ocba] QUESTION
> To: Becky Bollinger <beckyalis AT gmail.com
<mailto:beckyalis AT gmail.com>>
> Cc: "Orange County, NC Beekeepers" <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org
<mailto:ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>>
> Message-ID: <482DFA00.7050900 AT gmail.com
<482DFA00.7050900 AT gmail.com">mailto:482DFA00.7050900 AT gmail.com>>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
>
> Becky,
>
> The Chapel Hill town ordinances can be found here:
> http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?sid=33&pid=19952
<http://www.municode.com/resources/gateway.asp?sid=33&pid=19952>
>
> The Carrboro ordinances can be found here:
> http://www.ci.carrboro.nc.us/TC/towncode.htm
>
> I'm not a lawyer & may have overlooked something, but it doesn't
appear
> to me that either Chapel Hill or Carrboro have any restrictions
> whatsoever on keeping honey bees. Note that by their own specific
> definitions, their animal control statutes only include
vertebrates so
> don't cover honey bees.
>
> However you should be aware that in Carrboro, it is specifically
against
> the law to possess a camel.
>
> Randall
>
> Becky Bollinger wrote:
>> Does anyone know if it is legal to keep bees within Chapel Hill and
>> Carrboro town limits?
>> Thanks,
>> Becky
>>
>>



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